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Average speed report from 1936
#1
The original owner of our Mk1 Ruby wrote a page-a-day diary for most of his adult life, some fantastic insight into motoring from the 20's to the late 60's.

He lived in Ferndale (Rhondda) and often drove to Aberystwyth, here are details of one such journey in July 1936 about a month after he bought the "new car".

I'm not sure he ever got the car over 30mph!

   
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#2
Hi,your post gave me a little shock as I also am S J Thompson and have a 2 seat Austin seven tourer, us Thompsons must have good taste. Stephen.
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#3
Hi all, thanks to our beloved leader, here in Wale as from late September most roads will be defaulted to 20mph. The man's an idiot. S&P
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#4
(18-03-2023, 03:35 PM)phillips Wrote: Hi all, thanks to our beloved leader, here in Wale as from late September most roads will be defaulted to 20mph. The man's an idiot. S&P

Most roads?     No, that is not the case. All your out of town roads will remain with their present limits of 40, 50 or 60 miles per hour. Most roads in towns and villages with a 30 limit will reduce to 20, but even then there will be exceptions.

It seems a good idea to me. Safer and more peaceful when we are walking. Also when cycling. What is there not to like? I've tried driving at 20 in town in each of my four cars, with no problem. Much more peaceful.
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#5
Interestingly, on all our long trips in Ruby last year including the Eurotour thro’ France, Belgium and Germany and our return trip to Moreton here in the UK we never bettered 25mph, despite the fact that we were on open roads and regularly ran at speeds up to 50mph, our daily average never bettered 25 mph.
If we had 75 to do it took us 3 hours of driving and when we had 200 miles to do it took 8 hours of driving, never changed.
Every village in France and Belgium had enormous speed bumps and so in towns and villages it was snails pace and similarly in the UK, avoiding motorways etc every town and village is slow going simply due to traffic.
So I always now work on the basis of estimating driving time based on 25 mph wherever we are going!
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#6
Modern cars tell you what average speed you have done.   My modern has averaged 27mph over the last two years, mostly relatively short trips on country roads.   Try averaging 30mph in an Austin 7 on a Measham Rally on a January night!
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#7
Blanket application of 20 mph speed limits is ridiculous. Bedford council have recently done it in parts of the town. In most areas it is not monitored and therefore summarily and understandably ignored by most drivers. Once you get to the point where motorists pick and choose which limits to obey the slope is slippery. On the embankment the 20 mph limit (camera-enforced) is combined with a series of chicanes which interrupt traffic flow in both directions and lead to numerous highly dangerous games of 'chicken' with those who ignore the priorities and try to squeeze through before the approaching car. Driving along there at 5 or 6 in the morning by far the greatest risk is that a hotel might jump out in front of you, or perhaps that the river Ouse may suddenly change course. Meanwhile there are dreadfully dangerous streets littered with traffic hazards which fall outside the scheme. I objected to the plan and submitted scientific evidence refuting the council's claim that it was "good for the environment" and was of course completely ignored. Above all, motorists need to know where they stand. Much of Europe now has a broad range of very low speed limits in towns and you have to be constantly on your guard & noting down what the last sign said. There is much to be said for a standard limit (which we had) which motorists can assume applies as long as they are in town, unless told otherwise. Then plan road safety around it...
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#8
Because we are now regularly 'controlled' by recent University graduates who have no worldly experience we will get manifestly stupid rules - often with unintended consequences.

I will step down now  Rolleyes
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#9
The chaos will get worse Tony, the rules will be created by Artificial Intelligence and passed by politicians. We had a local example of state transport minister whose qualification for the job was he had been an airport baggage handler.
Yesterday whilst lurking behind our Austin 7 at a show I spoke to a chap who arrived in a Tesla. He said it would drive itself here with his eyes shut, the only proviso being he had to rest his hand on the steering wheel to tell the computer he was alive!
Coming to a chicane  near you!
He also informed me he has on a 2 year back order the new model with 1000HP  and 0 to 100klh  in 2 seconds
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#10
Freedom of speech and self expression are necessary elements of a constructive society, and therefore a forum. It is commendable of the mods to encourage owners of 5 series BMWs and SUVs with personalised number plates to share with us the fact that as they do not have children or grandchildren, or ageing parents with limited vision or hearing, they feel it is the right of every motorist to be able to drive through villages or suburbs as fast as they want. 

Encouraging driving fast through Swansea is a good idea as the drug dealers from Mayhill would not be slowed down, and offer opiates to old ladies at bus stops or school kids on their way home. What a good idea that some councils chop down trees to speed up traffic, well done Plymouth and Sheffield, out with the chainsaws! How often some of us might sit looking at the graceless  back of the financially disastrous shopping experience in Hereford, musing that the traffic lights might have delayed us even more had those mature trees not been chopped down. As for that nice Mr Musk, who needs a driver when computer failure is very trendy, and he is a real philanthropist providing work in the cobalt mines for all those lucky children in DCR. 

I am surprised that we are allowed to slow down traffic anywhere with our Sevens, almost the whole of Herefordshire came to a standstill at the weekend, and the many horses and Matthew Parkin's Trojan are even slower than a Seven. Anyway, that's enough. Time to take the dogs along the towpath, though to be honest I reckon that a towpath would be better used by motorbikes than doddery walkers. Perhaps I should stay in the garden.
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